Here is the ‘omnibus’ edition of His Dark Design
Tag Archives: gallifrey
Doctor Who-His Dark Design Episode Four [Fanfiction]
And now on BBC ONE we conclude our four-part adventure pitting the Master and Daleks against Sarah Jane Smith and the wits of Tom Baker as Doctor Who!
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The Omnibus Edition of this programme will be available shortly.
Doctor Who-His Dark Design Episode One [Fanfiction]
Beginning an exciting ‘new’ serial on my blog…well, ‘new’ in the sense that I am adapting a classic Doctor Who strip from TV Comic and adding my own personal touch to it. I was reading ‘Return of the Daleks’ and was awe struck by how good it was, if only Roger Delgado’s Master had been at the heart of it…so that’s what I’ve done, added him to proceedings to make the event all the more compelling. Expect plenty of surprises here
This fanscript is structured a bit like an ‘audio novel’, the narrator describes the goings on, but the characters speak their own lines, and I’ve also included some choice hightlights from the actual strip itself!
I hope to make this a daily serial, but we’ll see.
Doctor Who: Under A Sky Brimming With Ashes [Fanfiction]
Just thought I’d pop one out here after reading a Radio Times article on where Dawan’s Master fits in the chronology. The first words spoken by The Doctor come from the annual, and I figured it’d make for a good self-prompt, so having not read the annual, I challenged myself to finish the conversation
https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-09-17/doctor-who-master-missy/
Under a charred orange sky brimming with ashes, The Doctor stood in the ruins of Gallifrey, The Doctor asked her old friend and many-a-time foe of the last time they understood one another.
“You looked quite different the last time I saw you, I quite liked you as Missy. At least she wanted to change, to be a better person.”
“She spent too long in your company, Doctor,” The Master, architect of the last great destruction of Gallifrey, replied, “A mistake I don’t intend to repeat.”
“Why? Because it may calm all the rage?”
“Maybe. Not telling you”
Frustrated, The Doctor’s thoughts swiftly turned elsewhere, she looked out into the distance, she could see something faint in the distance just beyond the perimeters of the capital. She smiled. There was always hope to be had, provided you use your eyes.
“My place?” she asked.
The Master chortled.
“You never knew your place”
“Is that supposed to have a double-meaning now I’ve had an upgrade?” asked The Doctor
The Master didn’t respond, he looked back at the shattered dome of the great Gallifreyan citadel, attempting to place upon his face a mask of proud accomplishment.
“Come on, my place. You left it standing”
“How thoughtful of me”
“Yeah, well, probably the only clear thought that came into your head when acting out this deed”
She offered her hand to The Master, he hesitated.
“What makes you think your place is where I need to be? Even after seeing all this around you?”
“Do you remember Harold Saxon? Do you remember the year that never was? Where you plagued humanity with a brutal, quasi-omnipotent rule? Do you remember what I said? Could you bear it at the time? Can you bear it now? What did I say? What did I do?”
“You forgave me” The Master whispered, holding back a faint tear.
“And then you held me”
He looked back at The Doctor, her eyes matching his in urgency, in sincerity. Here, there was no such thing as malice, or hatred, or even the blight of disappointment, here there was only concern, there was a yearning to understand.
This was love
“Let me hold you. Again, just once, one more time, there is a rage inside of you and I don’t know if I can stop it this time, but if there’s any part of you that enjoyed my company as Missy, that relished the very notion of redemption, and if you have any secrets that need sharing, then for my sake, for your sake, don’t hide it behind a campaign against the universe, embrace it in a quiet, private place in the universe. Share it with me, without a cross word before, not a cross word after, without any hesitation. Whatever it is, I forgive you. Always”
“It’ll hurt, trust me, it is going to hurt” The Master warned.
“Whatever hurts me can sting only once, from there we’ll heal. Together”
The Master reached out and gripped her hand tight.
Together they headed over to an old, well worn hut.
There they made everything better.
There, by some miracle or another only their bond could achieve, they calmed all the rage.
Doctor Who: State of Play [fanfiction]
DOCTOR WHO:
State of Play
Notes:
Self Prompt: Graham gets the results of his Covid-19 test.
The Doctor couldn’t resist any longer.
Resistance was useless in a situation such as this.
All those eras she had lived through, ruthless pirate captains, horned nimons , manipulative space/time traps, all of it paled to the persistent conundrum of the very irritable human presence in front of her as she sat rather impatiently within the waiting rooms of the local medical clinic.
A young human girl, approximately five years of age, playing with a large red beach ball, repeatedly bouncing it across the edge of the wall and back to her. Five seconds worth of peace and quiet between each shot.
The Doctor could read a room like it was the history of everything you could ever find, she could gauge reaction and emotion just from seeing the faces of all those around her. Some burying their heads in an old magazine, forcing themselves to focus on the text, staring blankly at the celebrity snaps. Some twitching, some coughing loudly as if hoping it would put the young girl off the activity or allow her parents to ‘get the message’ and directly intervene.
But perhaps the most tragic and telling of the reactions was a teenage lad forming a small pistol with his right hand and taking ‘aim’ at the girl and mimicking gunfire noises. Unfiltered, as loud as he could.
The Doctor realised this was taking it too far. Why couldn’t any of them just talk to the girl?
This menace had form, but not yet, to her knowledge, a name.
She would ask her of it.
“Hi, young lady, don’t mind me asking, what’s your name?” she said.
“Annabelle” the girl replied.
“You seem a little distracted, well, a lot, where are you parents?”
Annabelle pointed over to a corner of the room where her mother was occupied with chatter on the phone.
“Oh, got noone to play with but the wall then?” said The Doctor.
Annabelle persisted with knocking the ball against said wall, the Doctor could tell she was indulging more aggressive in the activity.
“Those people around us, they’re getting to you aren’t they?” she said.
“They’re scared. Scared of what I can do”
“Really? And what exactly can you do?” The Doctor asked quizzically.
“I can anger them” Annabelle said.
“Oh that’s smashing, because between you and me, humans are very easy to anger, it takes the tiniest bit of pressure, but they thrive on it. This kind of anger you’re producing? It feeds on their morality, their very right to be angry, because they don’t know how to best express it to an innocent”
“So I do have power? Over them?” Annabelle said, excited to think she had such an influence.
“Nonsense, you’re an innocent, and power isn’t innocent, power puts fear into others. None of those surrounding us would dare use their power to hurt a child directly, with what they’re capable of with their own two hands, or their words, no, they’ll let the fear do all of that for them. A gesture, a glance, a telling smile, they’ll communicate that way. You’re picking up on that fear aren’t you? That’s why your state of play is more aggressive, you’re trying to make them fear what they could do if it continues. Do they have the right to lash out? What kind of monster would they become in the eyes of others as well as themselves as they did? It’s best not to wield any such power around them; they’re terrified enough as it is”
“Are they scared?” Annabelle asked.
“They’re already scared, they’re all here because something’s wrong with them, you’re here because something’s wrong with you, and you’re scared”
“Are you scared?”
“I’m scared for someone I care about, he’s been feeling a bit unwell, we’ve been up here twice already, once to take the test, and this is to find out the results”
“I hope he gets better”
“Me too” The Doctor replied
An older man with kind but exhausted eyes strolled into the waiting room, his hands in his pockets, glancing up at the bright lights before glancing in the Doctor’s direction; she immediately got up and dashed over to him.
“How’d it go?” The Doctor asked.
“Negative, the results, they came back negative” Graham O’Brien said, sighing with relief.
“You’re shaking” an observant Doctor nodded, holding his hand steady, checking his temperature with her eagerly warm free hand.
“The fear is still there” Graham replied, his eyes watering
“You’re also inflating” The Doctor replied.
Graham chuckled; he knew the Doctor was referring to his tears
“Oh, these waterworks? Don’t worry Doc, its just relief”
“Bit strange to cry when it’s nothing but good news” The Doctor replied.
“Yeah, well, you were a bit strange when I brought up my cancer anxiety to you”
“Are you ever going to let that go?” The Doctor said.
“So long as you never let go of me” he said, and planted a small tender kiss on her lips that held for what seemed like a blissful eternity
The Doctor, still locked in the kiss, gave Annabelle thumbs up. Annabelle nodded in approval.
This right there was a power she wanted to share with someone one day.
Annabelle’s mother finally got off the phone, her daughter sat besides her watching the Doctor depart with Graham, arm in arm.
“Who were you talking to dear?”
Annabelle smiled.
Who indeed.
Doctor Who-Hell Bent [Fanedit]
password to view trailer: tardis
The divisive Doctor Who Series Nine finale “Hell Bent” overhauled and repurposed as a tidy 24-minute instalment that does away with The Doctor breaking his no-kill code, man-baiting gender jokes and female general, the diner TARDIS etc, the focus is entirely on The Doctor’s quest for the truth regarding The Hybrid, and making the decision to determine Clara’s fate for her
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor: The Renegade Cut Announcement Trailer
password: who
To give you an inkling into what’s to come, I recommend you check out these two amazing videos.
Doctor Who: This Used To Be My Playground [Fanfiction]
This Used To Be My Plaground
Faced with a fateful confrontation, The Doctor realises he can’t face it alone, but he knows Gallifrey is not the place for playtime, the abuse must stop, and he desires the best person he can afford at his side (fixfic for Hell Bent)
The Doctor was seated at the head of the table, on an ornately carved high-backed chair. Ohila of the Karn Sisterhood sat at the opposite end, observing the activity.
Assembled before her were The Doctor, having regained the office of Lord President from the deposed and disgraced Rassilon, and The General, chairman of the Gallifreyan War council.
Their agenda this day was to discuss the malicious and misguided actions of the former President, his intent to confront the prophecies regarding the nature and impact of the mythical hybrid that would come to claim Gallifrey and stand amongst its ruins.
The choices made by Rassilon had left The Doctor alone, without a friend, without a reward, and with nothing to lose.
“If you wanted to know about the hybrid, why didn’t you come to me? You’ve summoned me home before”
“We dared not risk bringing the hybrid here, you claimed it was you in your message to the young boy you dispatched to the capital”
“So being time lords and knowing not to cross hairs with the web of time, you ensured you couldn’t just force my TARDIS back here because you heard a remark from me in your present”
“And this very admission from you was what prompted Rassilon to take action and to seal you within the confession dial, so you would be given a chance to elaborate”
“And face a just punishment in the process of working out a means to escape” The Doctor replied.
“Your companion, Ms. Clara Oswald, was not intended to be a victim of your interrogation, please believe that Doctor”
“Clara did a very human thing, she tried to one-up me, and she got herself killed. I can’t turn the clock back on that as much as I want to. Rassilon laid out the mines, but she was the one who stepped on them”
“Then you forgive us?” The General asked.
“The Doctor tore out the weed at the core of Gallifrey’s arrogant bout of paranoia, no one else is to blame but Rassilon himself” Ohila said, chiming in.
The Doctor tilted his head upwards, his eyes fixated on the large oval window atop the building, trying his best to make up distant suns glistening across the bright and burning orange skies of his homeworld.
“When I said the hybrid was ‘me’, I didn’t mean myself, I meant someone I had turned into a hybrid, a human who’s life I prolonged indefinitely using a piece of alien technology. She had a name, but as time passed, everything that name was associated with withered and died around her, so she abandoned it, she became singular, unattached. She identified only as ‘Me’. That individual was the crude she-devil you arranged a deal with on Trap Street”
“How does she come to Gallifrey?” The General asked.
“You’re Time Lords, can’t you decide when it is time to see for yourselves?” asked Ohila
“Well, perhaps time has already decided for us. Rassilon made the deal with her to keep her street safe, she knows our race exists, and she’s got all eternity to wait for the universe to run out of breath. A heat death means plenty of sun, and you picked a fine spot to deposit this old nursery in, ideal conditions for a final, fateful vacation”
“All prophecies are not clear on what shape the hybrid will come in, it is possible this girl is but one of many diversions” The General argued.
“You mean your prophecies aren’t even clear on what colour it is? They’re not trying to offend anyone on the P.C spectrum are they?”
“This is no time to play the fool. Doctor”
“It’s the end of the universe. It’s the only time I’ve got. And you want me to keep you all safe”
“Can you?”
“I’ll need help obviously”
“Gallifrey is at your command”
“Oh, not from you lot. No, you’d cramp my style. Look at your hats. I’m going to need the use of an extraction chamber, to request a favour of someone”
Many years earlier, at Bannerman Road, a familiar scenario played out
A young boy, Luke Smith over excitedly, chats on his phone with his friend Clive over the events of Christmas 2009, the day the world became one man everywhere.
“That was the maddest Christmas ever, Clive. Mum still doesn’t know what happened. She got Mister Smith to put out this story saying that Wi-Fi went mad all across the world, giving everyone hallucinations. I mean, how else do you explain it? Everyone with a different face ”
Luke crossed the road without looking, only for the Doctor, a much younger Doctor, dragged him off the road before he could be struck down by a speeding car.
“But it’s you! You’re…”
The Doctor walked back to his TARDIS.
“Mum! Mum!” Luke said, heading towards his mother, Sarah Jane, as she stepped out of the house to check on him.
“What? What is it?”
“It’s him. It’s the Doctor”
The Doctor waved goodbye, Sarah smiled.
Then she noticed something wrong.
The Doctor seemed frozen, locked in position, no longer moving a muscle.
She looked all around her, and everyone else was the same. Luke, the cars, the people going about their business on the road, all motionless.
A shimmering light emitted from just behind the TARDIS, Sarah felt compelled to investigate, etching closer and closer towards it.
She saw a hand beckoning her, an unfamiliar voice calling her name.
Sarah stepped into an all-white room, with operatives also dressed in white. The only colour are their faces, the General, the Doctor, and Sarah, and some blue computer panels.
“Where am I? What is this?”
“Hello Sarah Jane” The Doctor said.
“Doctor? Is that you” Sarah said, pricking the front of him with her finger.
“It is, and to answer your question Sarah, this is home”
“Home? Your home?”
The Doctor nodded.
Sarah felt her confusion give away to untempered elation.
“You found it”
She placed her right hand warmly against The Doctor’s right cheek and stroked it tenderly.
“Doctor, oh Doctor welcome back”
The Doctor reached out and held Sarah’s hand as it remained attached to his cheek, he felt its searing warmth, he wanted to wrap himself in it, he had missed it.
He had missed her; he had missed everything about her.
The General urged The Doctor to get on with the matter at hand.
“Sarah, this isn’t a house call”
“I just saw you, you were saying goodbye, like you always do, but something was different about it…it was like you knew you weren’t coming back, not as I knew you, not as you knew yourself”
“And you would be right, that version of me died Sarah, not long after bidding you adieu, that wasn’t even my previous form”
“You had a whole other life I missed out on?” Sarah asked, her hand disengaging from The Doctor’s face.
The Doctor grabbed her by the shoulders.
“You’ll come to know the self that succeeded him in time, that’s all it takes, time”
Sarah did not fully understand, but trusted the words of the man before her. She gave him a light smile, trying to hold back tears as she processed the news of the tenth incarnation facing his mortality.
“You’ve gotten old” she said.
“I’m probably only a couple of years ahead of you in appearance”
“Ah, so you’re finally keeping up with me”
“Ms. Smith, the lord president has requested your presence on this planet for as long as he deems proper”
“Oh I can’t stay; I have a son to look after”
“They’ll keep, don’t worry, you’ll be returned to this precise spot and moment when we’re done”
“Doctor, are you sure it is wise to use the extraction chamber in this fashion? There could be unforeseen side effects…”
“What side effects? Tell me”
“Sarah, I think we should go topside, it’s almost nightfall”
Before Sarah could utter another word, The Doctor grabbed her hand and escorted her to one of the lifts which took them up to the top of the capital citadel.
Atop the citadel, Sarah and The Doctor sat atop the roof, kicking their feet back and staring out at a few crimson stars as they ignited one by one and descended into the wild lands of the planet.
“I hope none of those areas are inhabited” Sarah said.
“No, no Gallifrey has specific defences, magnetrons that pull the falling strands away from any habitable area and into harmless dunes”
“Even at the end of everything, your people still cling to survival skills” Sarah replied.
“Sarah, I have to ask something of you, and you can say no any time you like”
“Tell me, just as long as you speak truthfully about the side effects of this extraction chamber of yours” Sarah insisted.
“The chamber is usually only used for people at the very end of their time stream, we take the person at the moment of their demise, and when they have provided us with the necessary information, they’re returned to see out the rest of their remaining seconds”
“Was I fated to die then?” Sarah asked.
“No, no we misused the chamber this one time. You have much more life left in you Sarah, and that’s why I need you for what lies ahead”
“Why not extract me at a later stage in life? When I’ve met your previous self?”
“That’s still to come for you, but this is you at your peak Sarah, this was when you had just earned your second chance and you revelled in it, this was the woman I knew could keep the earth in line even as I stepped over it myself. I was tempted, very tempted, to abuse the chamber in a different way, to bring a good friend of mine back from the brink of death, and keep her where I needed her to be. I wanted to be naughty Sarah, a very naught boy indeed. This, all of this, used to be my playground and the Time Lords the spoiled elders I wanted to mock in front of the unruly sorts, my aim was to be a champion amongst the unruly and strike out on my own”
“You succeeded at that, and more so you proved wiser than the so-called elders, you proved to them straying from home did more good for the universe than ruling out intervention” said Sarah.
“And what did it cost me? A friend, my Clara, oh I can tell myself she was to blame for her own demise, but had I not let slip that nonsense about the hybrid and Me the moment I got here, Rassilon wouldn’t have had the impetus to try and snare me in the past…it’s only now I realise this isn’t my playground Sarah, it’s my penance. I have to rule over Gallifrey, I have to prepare them for the hybrid, whatever form it takes, and I’m more scared that I may face it alone”
“And that’s why you summoned me…the absolute best version possible, to spend the duration of your presidency at your side…to keep you in line”
“I’m scared, and alone, and hell bent on succeeding, will you stand in the ruins, you, myself, and the one who only goes by Me, at the end of it all, and confront the riddle of the hybrid once and for all?”
“Oh Doctor, even if there were no stars left, I’d gladly light your path any day. Come on, we’ve got work to do”
The Doctor and Sarah climbed down from the edge of the roof and laid their heads down, clutching their hands and squeezing them tightly. They watched more stars descend from the burning sky.
“I suppose when I get back, I’ll have a few extra years on me”
“All of that will be covered when you realign with your correct timeline”
“And I’m sure I’ll need my memory erased”
“I’m not putting myself through that again”
“But if you do let me remember, when I see your earlier face, I’m not supposed to say anything?”
“Even if you hear of my ‘untimely’ death from a couple of vultures”
“It’s not like you to leave me a preview of what’s to come”
“Sorry, just trying to keep the timeline spoiler-free for myself”
“Hmmph, spoilers, reminds me of a woman I crossed paths with just a couple of days ago, my time anyway”
“Did she say anything about me?”
“Just that you never leave her any tin dogs”
Doctor Who-The End of Time [Fanedit]
When I first approached this edit, I wanted to try and make it appear like Ten did not go through the “he will knock four times” scenario and thus would not have to regenerate. I don’t think the final product was all that stellar, with terrible music cues leading to poor transitions and a rather dodgy narrative in places…so when remounting the project for inclusion on FE.Org, I thought it ought to be a simpler, less radical omnibus edit…which resulted in a much smoother product.
Gone is most of Part One, which has been reduced to just 45 minutes, and we open on Ten and Wilf talking in the cafe, with Ten (channeling RTD) rambling on about how regeneration/leaving the show feels like dying (thus preparing a whole generation of plebs to write off the show or grow to hate it instantly upon RTD and Tennant’s departure) , all you need to know is that Ten’s been on Earth for a while, and the mysterious connection Wilf has to him drew the two together….and we follow the scene through to it’s impactful conclusion with the reveal of Timothy Dalton’s Rassilon…and then the titles.
After that, we, like the TARDIS, take a step back through time and space to The Doctor being summoned to the Ood sphere and being informed of The Master’s resurrection…only we evade The Doctor and The Master’s encounters with homeless men and Minnie The Menace, and cut straight to The Doctor confronting the energy wielding Master in the quarry.
Three more edits after this, the first a simple joining of part one’s cliffhanger to Rassilon entering his chambers to discuss the perils of the Time War at the start of part two, followed by us skipping him learning about The Doctor and The Master locked in their struggle and learning of Earth. The reason for this is to tighten up the continuity ever so slightly, as it can be rather jarring that we go from Rassilon talking about how The Master would achieve glory for the Time Lords, only to then have their next scene be a flashback to how they learned precisely why. Luckily, I didn’t need to cut so much out of the war room meeting.
After this, it’s all of part two up to when The Doctor leaves Wilf at the church having given Donna Geoffrey Noble’s winning lottery ticket.
I never liked the idea of Ten going back to visit Rose in 2005, even if he kept to the shadows, it was one companion revisit too many and I don’t think The Doctor would want to reopen that void in his hearts knowing he got cucked by her and his doppelganger in “Journey’s End”
There is only one minor plot hole in the whole thing, and that was when Ten talks to Wilf about losing The Master at the quarry..but you can easily explain that away with what you didn’t get to hear at the cafe scene in the opening scene as the two got caught up on things.
Doctor Who-Leave The Dead To Dust [A Short Screenplay]
“LEAVE THE DEAD TO DUST”
A SHORT SCREEN PLAY BASED OFF OF “HELL BENT”
- EXT- DESERT-DAY
Several Gallifreyan younglings are playing a game of tag with one another when a stern, commanding middle-aged woman urges them to seek shelter within-she has spotted someone approaching in the distance.
This person- THE DOCTOR- his coat slung over his shoulder, his head flooded with sweat under the searing sun of his homeworld. He has walked many miles and the fatigue is visible on his weary head.
Still, he walks with purpose, heading towards the hut. It is a place very familiar to him-very personal-he begins to reminisce…
CUT TO-
- INT-HUT-NIGHT (FLASHBACK)
Flashback to “LISTEN”, where CLARA OSWALD’s familiar voice sooths the frightened and distressed YOUNG DOCTOR. She assures him all is well.
CUT BACK TO:
- EXT-DESERT-DAY
A CLOSE UP OF THE DOCTOR’S FACE, there is clear and visible anger here…a man driven to his limits. Clara’s voice can still be heard to echo all around our ears.
CUT TO:
- INT-HUT-DAY
The Doctor enters the hut and is greeted by the woman, the younglings cowering behind her. CLOSE UPs of their frightened faces. The woman looks concerned…for a moment.
The Doctor does not say a word. He lets his eyes do the talking.
The Woman’s facial expressions go through a series of expressions-curiosity turns to excitement-she recognizes him!
Then, as quickly as that expression appears-it’s gone, as a looming dread washes over her.
Her hesitation to speak ends abruptly.
WOMAN:
They’ll kill you
CUT TO:
OPENING TITLES
CUT BACK TO:
- EXT-GALLIFREYAN CAPITAL-DAY
Within the domed capital of the planet GALLIFREY, we see panic on the streets as the familiar tolling of CLOISTER BELLS ring from every corner of the city.
We PAN UPWARDS from the streets of the city to a majestic ,gleaming TOWERING STRUCTURES. Buildings belonging to the most elite and privileged of Gallifreyan society-THE HIGH COUNCIL OF TIME LORDS.
We steadily ZOOM IN on the central tower. Peering out of the structure is a robed figure- a stressed and perturbed expression on his features, his head resting against the metallic hand he has leaned on the glass of the window giving him a view of the city
CUT TO:
- INT-HIGH COUNCIL CHAMBER
It is a frantic and bustling scene as Time Lords of supreme stature receive a visit from the captain of the CHANCELLERY GUARDS. He leans down on one knee and bows before the assembled Time Lords
GUARD CAPTAIN:
My Lord President
The President turns from the window to address the captain
LORD PRESIDENT
The entire cloister is ringing Captain Gastron…how many of the Wraiths are active?
GASTRON:
All of them sir.
LORD PRESIDENT
Then we are facing great danger
Another of the assembled Time Lords, THE GENERAL, last seen in “DAY OF THE DOCTOR”, intercedes
THE GENERAL:
What of The Doctor?
GASTRON:
Returned to his roots sir, the orphanage just east of the capital.
LORD PRESIDENT:
Despatch a squadron to retrieve him immediately.
The General takes The President aside
GENERAL:
Lord President, I have been in contact with Karn. Ohlia of the Sisterhood requests an audience
LORD PRESIDENT (angry)
They are exiles, cut off from our society, they should have no influence on the affairs of this planet!
GENERAL:
Now is not the time to remind us of how divided we are. The hybrid is a danger that threatens all corners of the Universe.
The President’s ire is quick to fade , his face one of solemn resignation to the matter at hand.
LORD PRESIDENT
Very well
CUT TO:
- INT-BARN-DAY
The Doctor is enjoying a piping hot bowl of soup. The Woman keeps the children at arm’s length, watching The Doctor silently. The Doctor does not say a word, he takes a few spoonfuls.
One child chooses to be brave and breaks off from the sheltered group to ask The Doctor a question
CHILD
You’re sad. Most sad. I can see it in your eyes. Why is this so?
The Doctor stares coldly at the child, there is no compassion even in moments where there should be.
The Woman pulls the child back, The Doctor resumes his meal.
A distant rumble can be heard in the distance. Steadily, the noise gets louder, the table and soup bowl begins to shake.
Some of the children begin to talk amongst themselves. Some are frightened.
THE WOMAN
Wait here
She exits through the main door, the bright and searing sunlight seeps into the room, illuminating The Doctor. The children remain transfixed by him…and somehow all their fears evaporate
The Woman steps back into the barn, she steadily approaches The Doctor, anxious, but resolute.
THE WOMAN
They’ve come for you
The Doctor stares back at the children. He slowly rises to his feet and walks up to the Woman.
THE DOCTOR
Tell them everything will be alright
The Woman finally permits herself a grin. The children smile too. Though his soul is lost, The Doctor is not without heart.
The Doctor pats the Woman tenderly on the shoulder and opens the door
CUT TO:
- EXT-BARN-DAY
The Doctor peers out of the door to find a small platoon of Gallifreyan storm troopers awaiting him. Towering high above them is a Gallifreyan assault ship, it’s weapons firmly and locked on to the soil on which The Doctor stands.
The leader of the platoon, BESTRAL, approaches The Doctor and extends his hand in a gesture of friendship
BESTRAL
Doctor, I am Captain Bestral, on behalf of the high council, I welcome you back…
The Doctor has no time for pleasantries, especially from this type of person. He quickly takes a few steps backwards back into the barn and slams the door firmly shut, leaving the guards flabbergasted.
BESTRAL
Put me through to the High Council
CUT TO:
- INT-HIGH COUNCIL CHAMBER-DAY
Bestral is granted an audience with the assembled Time Lords. The President a tad overeager for progress to be made. His iron gauntlet shimmers with sheer power as if to more clearly convey his frustration as he tries to maintain a sense of composure.
LORD PRESIDENT
Why do you delay?
BESTRAL
He is being… difficult…Lord President, as you had foreseen
The President turns to The General, his features contorted as he juggles disbelief and paranoia.
LORD PRESIDENT
What does he want?
THE GENERAL
What any victim of the confession trials want and seldom never receive my Lord…a reckoning.
CUT TO:
- INT-BARN-DAY
The child that had noted The Doctor’s sadness from earlier spots the Time Lord searching through a casket. He removes several items, including several fob watches and an Edwardian era Jacket. At one point, he finds a packet of Jelly Babies. He takes a few out and offers them to the boy.
THE DOCTOR
Care for one?
CHILD
No one’s supposed to touch anything in there
THE DOCTOR
Because a grownup said so?
CHILD
We have to obey orders, they say we’ll become soldiers one day
THE DOCTOR
How long has it been since this planet last saw war?
CHILD
They say war is as eternal as time.
THE DOCTOR
And just like time…it inevitably passes.
The Doctor finds what he is looking for, a musical instrument, a wooden, six string guitar, he plays a solemn version of Clara’s theme on it. The children all gather around him as he plays, transfixed by the occasion. Even The Woman, trying to maintain a semblance of structure and attempting to pry the children’s attention away from The Doctor, cannot help but be moved.
CHILD
There was such sadness in your eyes…now there is pain in this song. This one, does it have a name?
The Doctor spots something in the crate, the small soldier figurine from “Listen”, he stares at it, a sense of longing in his ancient face
THE DOCTOR
I think it’s called…Clara
A voice from behind the door swiftly interrupts them
BESTRON
Doctor, this is your last warning. Accompany us to the capital, or we will be forced to remove you from this dwelling by force
CHILD
What are you going to do?
The Doctor begins playing a different track on the guitar, “Excuse Me While I Kiss The Sky”
THE DOCTOR
Don’t worry, it’s empty words. I trust them to follow their conscious. They know what I did in the last war.
CHILD
What did you do?
THE DOCTOR
I did some counting
- INT-HIGH COUNCIL CHAMBER
We find the President is again in great distress, his frustration knows no limits as the guards delay outside the hut
LORD PRESIDENT
Who do they think he is to warrant more delay?
THE GENERAL
The man who won the time war sir
Ohlia and the Sisterhood of Karn enter the chamber, flanked by guards
OHLIA
I see The Doctor’s homecoming has not come without it’s inevitable problems
LORD PRESIDENT
He blame us for the horrors he faced in the confession dial
OHLIA
No, not at all..he just blames YOU
CUT TO:
- INT-HUT-DAY
The Doctor is perched on a straw bed, hearing the music he’d been playing earlier played back to him by the child, who he is now allowing to play with the guitar. He hears another loud hum overhead. He steadily rises to his feet, he seems to know this is the kind of house call he had been desiring. His reckoning is here
- EXT-HUT-DAY
The President of the Time Lords, flanked by Bestron and his guards, stand outside the hut
- INT-HUT-DAY
The Doctor takes the Edwardian jacket from the pile left on the floor and puts it on. He make his way to the door. The woman and children are there to greet him. The woman is conflicted, not wanting to defy the President, but does not desire The Doctor to give himself up when he has brought much joy to her children.
WOMAN
He’s waiting for you…I don’t think we should delay any further. If you knew the stories about what he can do…I don’t wish for that on the boys, you understand of course.
THE DOCTOR
Yes. I know. This is where we part, thank you for all you’ve done for me
The child, still holding the guitar in his right hand, tugs at The Doctor’s coat with his left.
CHILD
Will we see you again?
THE DOCTOR
In time…and maybe in space. It’s a big universe. You could do with running straight into it when you’re older
The Doctor pats the child on the head and boldly takes steps to exit the Hut.
CUT TO:
- EXT-HUT-DAY
The bright searing Gallifreyan sunlight bursts forth and some of its rays illuminate the tense showdown between The Doctor and the President
LORD PRESIDENT
We did not go to this much trouble for you to create discord upon your return
THE DOCTOR
Get off my planet
The President laughs
LORD PRESIDENT
You have no gratitude. Were it not for my orders, you would not standing before me now with a new face…a new life
THE DOCTOR
This face is old, this life is scarred. Also by your orders. Another life has been lost. I do not forget these deeds.
LORD PRESIDENT
Your companion’s death was a result of her own reckless overconfidence
THE DOCTOR
You set a trap for me and she walked straight into it
LORD PRESIDENT
We required your assistance
THE DOCTOR
You could have summoned me
LORD PRESIDENT
And give our location away to our enemies? We are more vulnerable now than ever Doctor, we have seen much conflict since returning to this universe. Many have tried to stand in Gallifrey’s ruins.
THE DOCTOR
There were other ways
LORD PRESIDENT
You would have been difficult to deal with if merely summoned. You may not have been willing to tell us all you know about the Hybrid, a danger to us all
THE DOCTOR
The Hybrid was a story
LORD PRESIDENT
Every story ever told is history Doctor, history that has either been prevented by us, or history that is bound to happen if we leave it unchecked
THE GENERAL
You said you were the Hybrid Doctor
THE DOCTOR
Yes I did, and no, I didn’t. Have you been paying attention to history?
LORD PRESIDENT
Tell us what you know
THE DOCTOR
Get off my planet
LORD PRESIDENT
Gallifrey is mine
The President raises his iron glove, it begins to glow
THE GENERAL
Lord President, please, this is not the way
THE DOCTOR
No, let him sic his mitten on me, it’s bringing out the colour in those ice-cold cheeks
LORD PRESIDENT
I do not jest Doctor, I shall go to any lengths to get the truth. In the confession dial you died time and again…and where we come from, time has no desire to leave the dead alone.
The Doctor stands firm, we continuously CUT BETWEEN CLOSE-UPS of the two staring intently at each other, neither backing down from what they mean or say.
Finally, one Time Lord can stand it no longer.
GENERAL
Lord President, do not-
The President unleashes a sudden burst of energy from his glove, the General throws himself into the line of fire and becomes a smouldering wisp of smoke and ash.
The Doctor catches the President unawares with a firm right hook, the President falls to the floor, The Doctor places one foot soundly on his glove as guards swarm over them
The Doctor removes the President’s glove
THE DOCTOR
Take a look at what he is willing to do here, make a choice.
The Doctor stares at the remnants of the General’s clothes, a pained yet stern and commanding presence on his face as he recalls the smoke pouring from Clara’s corpse in “FACE THE RAVEN”
The soldiers drop their weapons and pick up the fallen President, restraining him, their choice made
LORD PRESIDENT
I am Rassilon, the redeemer, Rassilon the resurrected, Gallifrey is mine. You will obey me!
THE DOCTOR
Noone is your servant and you are not The Master, and I mean that quite literally. You do not rule over these men or any other. Not any longer.
Rassilon is taken back to his ship, he looks over at the children staring back at him. The young boy plays ‘Excuse Me While I Kiss The Sky’ on the guitar
THE DOCTOR
Nicely played kid.
BESTRAL:
My Lord Doctor, shall I order the potion mixers back at the capital to prepare the General for resurrection?
THE DOCTOR
No, no soldier, he’s earned his rest. Even as it comes to claim us all, it’s best for life and time if we merely leave the dead to dust.
zaredit 
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